A Quest For The Truth
by Yorkielover 790
Summary: Maddie wants to know more about Phantom, so when she gets a chance to ask one question, she takes it. But while Phantom's answer is vague, it might be enough for her to figure out the truth. (Rated K because of paranoia)
1. chapter 1

**A/N: Hi, guys! I had this little idea that maybe Maddie knew about Danny, sorta like Jazz. I mean, she definitely isn't as dense as the rest of Amity Park. She had to have known. It's also that she's an excellent shot, but somehow almost never hit Danny. I can't be the only one to notice. Anyway, I have the whole story written out. It's only 3 chapters, though. Before I start the story though, here's the disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.** **Chapter 1: The Theory**

Maddie had so many questions, but no way to get answers. Currently, she and Jack were staking out the Nasty Burger, the second highest in frequent ghost activity. The first was Casper High, but Jack had gotten them banned from bringing ghost tech onto school property.

While Maddie was interested in finally catching a ghost, she was not completely focused. There was one ghost in particular that both confused and intrigued her: Phantom. Why was Phantom so unique? So different? So . . . human? She wanted to ask him in person, but there were many reasons she couldn't. If he was trapped or caught, he wouldn't tell her. He would lie, avoid questions, and even try to change the subject or escape. She wouldn't be able to force answers out of him.

With her knowledge and study of ghosts, she knew they were destructive and evil, lying and decieving. Even if Phantom didn't display as much hostility as other ghosts, she knew approaching a ghost without a back-up weapon was a bad idea. But if she did have a weapon, he would fly away before she could even say a word. Even if Jack wasn't there.

Just then, a ghost showed up. Phantom came not long after(as if on cue) and fought the ghost while avoiding Jack's blasts. Maddie was firing at the other ghost. She could've sworn Phantom sent a few surprised but grateful looks her way. More odd and puzzling behavior to drive her crazy. He finished the fight and flew off, Jack in pursuit. So as not to raise any suspicions, she followed, but soon lost track of both. She stood there lost in thought and didn't even notice when Phantom phased up out of the ground in front of her. In fact, his surprised gasp when he turned around and saw her barely registered in the back of her mind.

"Mo-Maddie! Um . . . I didn't know you were here. I-" Phantom began, but then he noticed her trance-like state. So he started waving a gloved hand in front of her face. "Maddie? Hello? Earth to Maddie? You okay?"

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah. Fine," Maddie replied, shaking herself out of the trance. She focused on Phantom who seemed a fraction more timid-looking now that she was focused. He backed away a little, glancing back and forth between her and the weapon she held.

"Well, thanks for the help with the ghost . . . I'd better be going now . . ." He floated upwards about a foot and turned to leave.

"Wait. Phantom . . ." He looked over his shoulder at her with curiosity as Maddie grabbed his shoulder, pulling him down. She finally got a good look at his face and felt like something there could be the answer she needed to a question she didn't know; as if that one answer could be the missing piece to a puzzle she couldn't solve. She became aware that he was starting to look annoyed. She had to say something; she couldn't let this opportunity slip away from her. "Why-Why do you act so different? So . . . human?"

He smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped, as if catching himself. "I-I don't know." A lie. Her instincts told her that Phantom wanted to tell the truth, wanted to scream it out to the world, but he just couldn't. "Maybe since I . . . died . . . at such a young age, I retained more humanity than them?" A cover story. What truth could possibly hurt so much that he felt compelled not to say it? How big was this secret that a ghost, who died at about the same age as Danny was, would want to keep it from everyone? Wait . . . Danny? She mentally switched black for white and white for black. Radioactive green for baby blue. The HAZMAT suit made for Danny was almost exactly like Phantom's. His aand Danny's features were also the same! And wasn't Phantom's first name Danny? Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom. The names were too similar for coincidence. Retained more humanity. Died at such a young age. "Well, if that's all, I'm gonna go now."

"Yes, that's all for now." She had her theory, she just had to test it. But timing was everything, so she watched Phantom fly away.

 **A/N: I feel that the chapters I write are always a bit short, but I'm still a little new to this writing fanfictions thing. Until I get the hang of it, I would appreciate it if you don't complain about the length of the chapters.** **On another note, if you have suggestions for other fanfictions you might want me to write, I am up for a challenge(so long as it isn't centered around romance). The feedback from my first fanfiction was so inspiring to me, that I felt like writing more. I am working on a couple of other fanfictions right now as well. Well, thanks for the support!**


	2. The Secret

**A/N: Who knew I would get so much positive feedback IN ONE DAY?!? I love the support guys.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

 **Chapter 2: The Secret**

Maddie had listened to everything Danny said the next few days, coming to the conclusion that he wanted them to be more flexible and open to new ideas when it came to ghosts. If her theory was right and Phantom and Danny were one, then he was trying to tell them. He just wanted to be sure that he was accepted for both halves of who he was.

Of course, she couldn't just throw everything she thought she knew out the window in a heartbeat. She had to gradualize it, otherwise it wouldn't be believable. She admitted to Jazz and Danny that she had noticed that Phantom did more good than bad. This seemed to delight both her children instantly, but she was dissappointed when Danny didn't reveal anything. She wanted him to tell her, but she could only show just so much of a change in attitude. So it was time to proceed with Plan B.

She waited until everyone else had fallen asleep that night, silently made her way to Danny's room, and opened the door a crack. After all, Phantom was fighting ghosts at random hours, including during the night. After a few hours, she saw a light blue mist come out of his mouth, making him gasp as he instantly awoke. He stood quickly, getting into a fighting stance. He transformed into Danny Phantom, giving her the proof she needed. _Retained more humanity._ He was only part ghost. _Died at such a young age._ This part puzzled her. Danny tried to stick as close to the truth as possible, which meant that, from a certain point of view, he had died or at the very least come close to it.

But when would something like that have happened? She went down to the lab in the basement; she always thought more clearly there. This time, though, it only seemed like a distraction as her gaze kept wandering over to the Ghost Portal. She smiled fondly as she remembered that Danny got it to work. _How did he do that again?_

He had said something about tripping on wires went he went inside to check the wiring, then stopped abruptly as if not wanting to say the rest out loud. It was like he afraid of both finalizing it, and the reaction they would have to it. Maddie found herself deactivating the portal and walking into it. She carefully avoided the wires, finding the spot she supposed Danny would have tripped. _He would have braced himself on the nearest wall._ She looked to her left and saw the 'on' button.

If he was caught in the startup process, he should have been killed. No, he had been killed. The only reason he wasn't dead right now-or, at least, not completely-was because of the ectoplasm. It must have interfered with the electricity and, in turn, was fused to Danny. She hated to imagine what it must have felt like.

Having most of the important questions answered, she left the portal and turned it back on, erasing the evidence that she had been there. It didn't seem possible for someone to be half ghost, yet it was. She had questions about what that was like and how that worked, but those could wait until Danny was ready to tell her about the secret himself. Now she had to figure out how to act like she knew nothing about it at all.

She immediately began hiding the lethal ghost weapons. She would say they were "misplaced" later, and actually noticed that a week later, that had indeed ended up being true. (A/N: Danny phased them into the wall.) She also didn't want to use the non-lethal weapons on Danny, but decided she would purposely "miss" whenever she fought "Phantom." That was the easier part. But acting like she hated one half of Danny for being different? She just didn't feel that way.

 _Think, Maddie. Think._ There must be something she could use, other than that he was part ghost. The supposed crimes he committed? No, she knew deep down that he wasn't that kind of person. Then she thought about the accident. She felt guilty, dissappointed in herself, and sad that she had let something like that happen, and not even known until now. _All of those emotions could easily be converted into false anger and hatred._ Every time she saw "Phantom" she would be reminded of her failure and turn those emotions into others. Nobody but her would know the difference. Now that the most pressing questions on her mind had been answered, she went to bed, unable to remain awake any longer.

 **A/N: Again, love the positive feedback! Also, one more chapter left! Yay! So I still am willing to consider any non-romance centered suggestions for fanfictions. The idea part is the hardest for me, but I usually do great once I get started. See you guys later!**


	3. The Truth

**A/N: I love all the support! Thanks guys! Final chapter! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.**

 **Chapter 3: The Truth**

It was the next day and "Phantom" was fighting yet another ghost.

"Don't move, Danny Phantom!" Maddie yelled, and he did so, shocked that she had called him by his full name. Scratch that, he was surprised that she _knew_ his full name. He floated there for a moment, hesitating. Maddie had her shot lined up and fired. The blast just missed his face by a few millimeters, hitting the other ghost instead. That snapped him out of his trance, and he caught the ghost in the Fenton Thermos. He turned around and saw Maddie discreetly giving him a thumbs up, a small smirk on her face.

"I got you now, ghost kid!" Jack boomed. Danny just rolled his eyes before pulling a disappearing act. "Darn it! He got away, Maddie!"

"Yes, he did."

Meanwhile, Danny (Fenton) walked up to his friends. "That was weird."

"I know. Your mother usually has perfect aim," Sam replied.

"Not that, Sam. She wasn't aiming at ME. And she called me DANNY Phantom. She's never called me that to my ghost half's face."

"She was probably trying to throw you off guard-"

"Which she did, by the way," Tucker interjected.

"-and how do you know she wasn't aiming at you?" Sam continued, sending a death glare at Tucker.

"When I turned back around to face her, she gave me a thumbs up!"

"I don't know, dude. Maybe you're just overreacting," Tucker offered.

"Maybe . . ." Danny said, but he looked back at his parents. _Or maybe not._ Had he actually gotten through to her? Or did she know something? If she thought she knew something, she certainly hadn't told anyone, especially not his father. Maybe he should ask her about it. So it was that he waited until later that day to confront her. "Mom? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Danny."

"How much do you know about Phantom?" Maddie mentally cringed at Danny referring to himself in the third person as if "Phantom" were a friend and not the second half of a whole.

"Only what I've seen and heard. Why?"

"I saw you give him a thumbs up after you missed while shooting at him. I wondered why you did that. What made you change your mind?"

 _Can't deny the thumbs up. Also can't lie about it if I want him to trust me._ "He . . . said something to me . . . and I had this feeling he was telling the truth, but not all of it. It got me thinking and I wanted to know more, but I couldn't ask him anything else because he flew off. So I thought about what he could've meant by it."

"What did he say?"

"Well, I had asked him why he seemed so different from other ghosts and he told me that he thought it might be because of the fact that he . . . died so young that he may have retained some degree of humanity. The way he said it and the way it felt so true made me think that maybe he does have enough humanity left in him to rival that of an actual human." Maddie thought for sure that wording it like would make Danny trust her enough to confess. It didn't.

"And what else do you want to ask him?"

"Well, if he has a reasonable explanation for the robberies, the attack on town hall, and kidnapping the mayor, I'd like to hear it," she challenged. He seemed to be thinking something over.

"I think I might be able to help."

"How?"

"I'm . . . friends with Phantom." Maddie thought it would be difficult to imagine the two side by side, so it surprised her when she remembered such a scenario. Both had been acting quite strangely compared to normal when a ghost who could posess technology was loose in town. She remembered several occasions where she had seen them standing next to one another.

Then she remembered how certain ghosts could duplicate. Could Danny do the same? Danny pulled out his phone and punched in a number.

There was a short moment of silence before he said, "Hey, Phantom? . . . Yeah it's me, Danny- . . . -I am not being chased by a ghost!" During this small break of silence, Maddie noted that Danny was good at playing the role of poor defenseless kid. "My mom, Maddie, wants to ask you questions about stuff like the robberies, but she didn't know how to contact you."

Maddie wondered who he was calling. It couldn't be a duplicate, and it had to be someone close enough that he would tell his secret to like a close friend. She immediately narrowed it down to Sam and Tucker(knowing how Valerie felt, she obviously didn't know).

"Where do you want her to meet you? . . . Uh-I told her we were friends?" Danny winced. Sam then. "Relax, she took it very well. . . Okay, thanks. Bye Phantom." He hung up. "The park. That's where he'll meet you."

"You want to come with?" Maddie offered. Danny paled.

"No thanks. I already know the story." And with that he quickly retreated to his bedroom, closing and locking the door. He didn't trust her enough to tell her he was half ghost, but at least she would know why he was accused of those crimes. So, she headed to the park.

It was about an hour before the sun would set when she got to the park and found "Phantom" pacing under a tree. That is, if it could be called pacing when he was floating a good inch off the ground the whole time. He noticed her and stopped.

"Hey, Phantom."

He took a deep breath. "Hey, Maddie. So . . . where should I begin?" he asked to himself.

"At the beginning." At this, he facepalmed, causing her to laugh. "Back at the robberies?"

Danny sighed and took a deep breath. "So, remember that ringmaster?"

"The one from Circus Gothica?"

Danny nodded.

"How could I forget?"

"Well, he had this crystal ball on his staff which could control ghosts. He made me- and a few other ghosts -rob stores and stuff. Because of my uniqueness, though, I was able to resist and I broke the crystal ball and its' control just before you arrested him."

"What about town hall and the mayor?" At this, Danny's expression flashed with a mix of anger and annoyance, his green eyes glowing brighter.

"I got in trouble with a ghost obsessed with 'rules' and he put me in jail for having 'real-world contraband' in the Ghost Zone. I staged a massive jailbreak and came back here, but he followed me. He decided he would turn the whole town against me by overshadowing half the town with his goons. He had just overshadowed the mayor when I decided that enough was enough, so I went to town hall to defend myself. To be honest, I thought you and Jack were overshadowed as well. A small blast like the one I fired at you is enough to push a ghost out and not harm a person. Then Walker- the ghost in charge that overshadowed the mayor -dragged me out the front door, pretending I was kidnapping him and not the other way around. Anything I miss?"

"No. But what about the Fenton gear? The Thermos, the Ecto-Skeleton, and countless others?"

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying. The Thermos actually got thrown into my face. Remember when we first met?"

(Flashback- Maddie's perspective)

 _"I, Jack Fenton, do hereby turn my back on ghosts." A huge explosion goes off behind the school. "And this Thermos can't catch ghosts because ghosts don't exist. Jack tosses the Thermos over his shoulder._

 _And out of seemingly nowhere, the first ghost- half ghost, technically speaking -fell from the sky at about at least 80 miles per hour shouting, "Thanks for the Thermos!" as he phazed into the ground in front of us without slowing down._

 _Then Jack yells, "Ha! Ghost Kid! I was ri-ight! Ghosts exi-ist!_

(End flashback)

"As for the rest of the stuff, Danny let me borrow it, including the Ecto-Skeleton. Danny had found out that I had been trapped inside the Ghost Shield when it was activated and knew I had the biggest shot at defeating the Ghost King, but to even have a shot at all, I needed the Ecto-Skeleton. I planned to return it, but after the fight I passed out and, when I came to, it was gone."

Maddie realized that she had to take note of the remarkable resemblance to a human he had, in order to stay in character. "This may be off-topic, but you said you passed out. I'm not saying it's impossible, but can other ghosts pass out? Or is it just you?"

Danny thought for a moment. "I think only one other ghost is actually capable of passing out, but other ghosts do have a state of rest similar to sleeping or suspended animation."

Maddie took in this information and everything else she'd been told. The 'other ghost' had to be half ghost, right? Since no other ghosts could do that, it made sense. "Who's the other ghost?"

"My cousin.*"

 _But Danny knows he doesn't have a cousin._ Maddie thought. _Although he seems to think highly enough of this person to consider them family._

"I wonder where she is right now." It was so quiet that Maddie almost didn't hear it. She looked over to Danny who was staring at the sunset, sitting with his back against the tree. She sat down next to him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The last time I saw her, she flew off dramatically to travel the world. I had just saved her from being turned into a puddle of ectoplasm. You can ask the Red Huntress, she helped."

"Wait, doesn't the Red Huntress hate you? Why would she help?"

"Because my cousin is half human."

"Oh." They sat there a few moments longer. "Well, it's starting to get dark, so I should head home."

"Yeah, I should start patrolling soon, too."

"Be careful, Phantom. Even you aren't invicible."

"Okay . . . Well, see you later!" Then Danny flew off to patrol Amity Park. Danny now knew she missed _him_ on purpose now, but he didn't figure out the real reason until she confessed after his reveal post-disasteroid.

 **The End.** **A/N: *I personally think that Vlad faked passing out. I think that if Danny had the intent to kill, Danny and Vlad would be a match in power level until Danny got his Ghostly Wail. Taking that into consideration, during Reign Storm(the episode where Pariah Dark takes over) Vlad 'awakens' before Danny when Vlad 'passed out' at the same time Danny did. Danny is younger and should therefore recover faster, but he doesn't. Also, Danny is more human in behavior and appearance, while Vlad tends to be more ghostly.** **Well, thank you again for the support. I really appreciated it. I'm off to work on new fanfictions, so see you later when I finish one! :)**


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